The True Costs

The Problem

But, we’ve become blind to the hidden costs behind the product or brand, which means the consequences of our buying decisions are often disconnected from our ethical beliefs and values.

Costs that we would never tolerate if given the choice.

Sobering stuff like:

We, the richest 1.7 billion people, the ‘consumer class’, use up 150% of the planet’s renewable resources each year. So every year our ecological ‘overdraft’ increases while our regenerated ‘income’ falls and 5.5 billion go without.

1Kg of ‘stuff’ we buy uses about 8½ Kg of Earth’s resources, most then becomes waste poisoning our land, water, and air. And, what’s more, critical minerals are getting harder to find and more expensive to extract.

We’re in the 6th Mass Extinction, faster than any before, and caused by humans; 50% of species will be gone this century, that’s 3 an hour or 30,000 a year, and some favourites like elephants and tigers within 20 years.

There are about 29.8 million ‘modern day’ slaves - 170 years after it was supposedly eliminated. They grow our food, do our mining, provide sex, and contribute to most of the products in our own homes.

We abuse and dump so much toxic waste and sewage into the Oceans that they’re dying:

This doesn’t bother the very few super rich and powerful who profit, but it’s seriously bad for about 2 billion of us in the ‘developed’ world and disastrous for some 5 billion already struggling with poverty.

With your help we can stop those companies that think that this is all OK because they make fat profits from it.

Toxic Chemicals

Man-made chemicals are in everything from our food, toys, shampoo, cosmetics, to electronics.

…the problem is that we have no idea on the short and long term effects on our health and environment, but we're beginning to learn…and it's bad.

Nature takes millennia to create the perfect chemicals for a task, but we think we can do it overnight.

So what's the problem?

Many of these chemicals are:

Highly toxic;

Accumulate in the environment and animals so poisoning everything;

Find their way back to us, concentrated form in our own food;

Disrupt our hormones;

Affect reproductive systems;

Carcinogenic

Think on the madness…we protect our children from skin cancer with sunscreen containing known carcinogens…we hold plastics against our skin that leech hormone disrupters…give our children permanent markers that give off toxic fumes…

Fortunately there are organizations like CHEM Trust fighting for your right to not be poisoned and having harmful man-made chemicals replaced with safer alternatives

We're lucky that the EU is working to remove toxins from our products, but it's a slow process.

Another organization, ChemSec, doesn't think we should wait, so they and their partners, including CHEM Trust, have developed a SIN List (Substitute It Now) of some 378 substances of Very High Concern we need to get rid of for a toxic free world – things you really don't want in your house!

Spaice will be watching closely to see which manufacturers are taking the lead to eliminate these so we can report to you which are the safest products for you and your children.

Trees

We like trees. Spectacular and each one unique, they improve our environment both aesthetically and physically, and, of course, are havens for wildlife.

Unfortunately, most of the time, we don't really think about them. But we do care, we proved that with the massive outcry at government plans to sell off the public forests; but how many have forgotten about them again now?

When we lose them we: cause soil erosion, destroy habitats and water supplies; and even alter local weather patterns.

Renewable resource

Homes for millions of creatures, including some of the iconic, but most threatened, species such as the Sumatran tiger and orang-utan;

Engineering miracles that store vast quantities of carbon (without the crazy risks and cost of our human techno-fixes), clean the air, regulate the water cycle, and give us oxygen – all without tax payer subsidies, government bailouts, or profiteering!

Health

Trees heal. Most of us intuitively know that we feel calmer and healthier near trees – call it spiritual or just simple peace and quiet, a walk in the woods lets the stress of modern life melt away.

A walk in the woods brings peace to our noisy, demanding, and stressful lives. They offer us and our children healthy outdoor lives interacting with nature instead of a digital screen.

We will actively encourage and help you to disengage from the incessant marketing mantra 'buy, buy' buy' so a walk in the woods rather than shopping liberates you and your wallet!

Investing in the future

The great forests that have and are being cleared could have shielded us from some of the problems our world faces and as the need becomes greater we should be turning to, not away from, the solutions nature has given.

We want to help by supporting those groups that reconnect people with trees and investing in the expanding, not just protecting, forests.